Olak-PKT's Marwadi Hamirin (left) takes control of the ball from Nur Insafi's Mohamad Faridul Izwan during the Malaysia Junior Hockey League at the Bukti Jalil Stadium. - Filepic
KUALA LUMPUR: The standard of the national hockey team has dropped this year with some poor results.
And the slide continues in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division which begins on Oct 29.
Last year, seven teams featured in the Premier Division but this year the number has been reduced by one.
Nur Insafi of Penang, who have been featuring in the MHL since 2006, will not be competing.
Teams that have confirmed their entry are double champions KL Hockey Club (KLHC), Tenaga Nasional, Sapura, Maybank, Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) and Terengganu Hockey Club.
Yesterday was the last day for teams to submit their entry.
Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHF) executive competition secretary Hashim Mohd Yusoff said he is not sure why Nur Insafi have stayed away.
“I tried to contact them today but to no avail. Looks like they are not interested any more,” said Hashim.
“Except for Tenaga Nasional, the other teams have hired foreign players and the competition is expected to be much more competitive than last year,” added Hashim.
Terengganu Hockey Club, trained by former international Sarjit Singh, are expected to mount a serious challenge as they have roped in six foreigners.
The team to beat are KLHC, who have won the league and overall titles four times in a row since 2011. They will open their campaign against Tenaga in the Charity Shield on Oct 29.
Hashim said that the matches will be played under the home and away format and the total prize money is RM370,000.
The overall Cup final is slated on Dec 14.
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